The Christmas season is over, and I'm spared the excessive begging for donations from the Salvation Army. Yeah, no, I'm not giving you bell-ringers jack squat. You wanna know why? Because the Salvation Army has done some pretty terrible things to the LGBTQ community in the past with the money donated to it. In 1986 they tried to keep sex between two men illegal in New Jersey. In 2004 they threatened to close ALL THEIR SOUP KITCHENS in New York over a law which would have made all businesses and charities dealing with the city give their lgbtq employees equal rights. They will sometimes turn people away who seem to belong to the LGBTQ community, and this has resulted in the tragic death in 2008 of Jennifer Gale. Because the homeless shelter run by the Salvation Army would not room her with the cis women, and she would not stay with the cis men (likely thinking of her safety) she died outside of the shelter on the sidewalk.
Not to mention, outside of the LGBTQ community, they have refused to give toys to children who can't prove their immigration status.
In the holiday season, I reccomend you give money to an organization that won't spend some of it threatening to close down soup kitchens and turn away LGBTQ people from their services. Doctors Without Borders are usually a pretty safe bet.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Feminist Flash Fiction Entry
Pro-choice groups are filled with all kinds
Together sharing hearts and minds
From queer younglings to weary vets
Fighting for rights against all threats
We scream and kick and stomp and yell
Telling them to go right to hell
The chants are practiced; tried and true
Used from Toronto to Peru
You say no choice, we say pro choice
Cried from us in a single voice
But this wasn’t quite good enough
For a kid who seemed pretty tough
With Moms encouragement she asked
And with grins we agreed real fast
This chant was better and hard to skew
You say no choice, we say fuck you!
This is an entry for the Mookychick blogging competition, FEMINIST FLASH FICTION 2011. Enter now.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Canadian Press Stylebook on Sexism and Sexual Orientation
Okay, so, it took forever to make my internet work in this apartment. So frustrating, seriously. But, I’m settled in, I’m doing good, and I started my Journalism classes at Niagara college today! They seem promising, and I think I’m going to enjoy them.
Also, I got my text books. I had to flip through The Canadian Press Stylebook 16th Edition because: A. Knowing this is like 60% of my mark in one class.
B. It’s going to be important career-wise.
And C. I wanted to see what kind of stuff it talks about. My grandfather told me it was kind of boring but important, so I wanted to see what he meant. Lots of fiddley little rules I’m going to have to get to know very well. But I was looking through the Table of Contents and I see “sexism, sexual orientation, abortion” all together and I just HAD to see what it said. And you know what? It’s pretty good. I’m impressed and pleased with the journalistic standards in these regards. Seeing what the measure is for the way that these topics are addressed and discussed in the public forum is interesting to see from the other side.
Bits I liked best in these three topics (actually, just sexism/sexual orientation, abortion boils down to ‘use pro/against abortion rights unless groups in question use pro-life/pro-choice, be careful out there.’)
Sexism: “Referring to a woman gratuitously as attractive, leggy or sexy is as innapropriate as describing a man as hot, well-muscled or having great buns.” -I like this mainly because someone managed to get the phrase ‘having great buns’ into my textbook about stylistic writing guidelines.
“Never assume that a family of four consists of a man, a woman and their two children. Don’t write as if every married couple consists of a man and a woman.”
Sexual Orientation: “Gay and lesbian are the preferred terms to describe people attracted by the same sex; homosexual is considered offensive by some. Avoid except in clinical contexts and quotations. Lesbian woman is redundant. Don’t use gay as a noun. Althought many gay people use the expression queer, avoid except in quotations as some readers may construe it as offensive.” Okay, I’m going to have to raise my hand and point out bisexual/pansexual people vis a vis the first bit, but I really enjoy the ‘lesbian woman is redundant’ line. Also, I should ask if you can use the word queer in a column, where you speak as yourself, and you’re someone who self-identifies as queer. Hmm, does a column technically count as one huge giant quote?
“Use sexual orientation, not sexual preference; sexuality is not an option. Don’t refer to the gay lifestyle or suggest that the majority of gay men and lesbians routinely live unorthodox lives; most don’t.” I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW, TEXTBOOK, THAT EVERY NIGHT WHILE THE STRAIGHT PEOPLE SLEEP, WE BATTLE THE DREAD GOD DSSKA’FDSJHRE AND DEFEND THE UNIVERSE FROM IT’S INEVITABLE DESTRUCTION. Not unorthodox lives my butt. (The book said no swearing. ;-; Except in quotes. Wait! “My ass” says the girl who likes to think she’s funny.)
It also says to flag the story with a ‘caution’ note where a slur is used. Perhaps this is indicative of trigger warnings becoming more mainstream!
Bit I don’t really like:
“While there is still some dispute about the definitions of the terms, transgender is usually regarded as a general term under which more specific descriptions, such as cross dresser, transvestite, drag queen, shemale and transsexual, fall. Transsexual has a clinical definition as someone who identifies as a member or the sex opposite to that assigned at birth. Use the term the person in question uses (explain if necessary) and a pronoun consistent with how they live.” Okay, I dislike this being under ‘sexual orientation.’ I get why, because the term LGBT+ has lumped everyone in one big pile, but it’s really not the same thing. Gender identity=/=sexual orientation. Also, I wish they’d said not to use the word shemale unless the person in question uses it, because to my knowledge that is definitely not a good word. I’m probably going to at least point out that gender identity isn’t the same thing as sexual orientation in class, and that they should maybe rename the section ‘sexual and gender identities.
In total, about these sections, I was pretty impressed. It was progressive, fairly decent standards, and most of it worked for me.
If anyone has any issues with the bits I’ve quoted, let me know! Especially with the bit about gender identity. I’m cisgender, and I know I might have missed something offensive.
Also, I got my text books. I had to flip through The Canadian Press Stylebook 16th Edition because: A. Knowing this is like 60% of my mark in one class.
B. It’s going to be important career-wise.
And C. I wanted to see what kind of stuff it talks about. My grandfather told me it was kind of boring but important, so I wanted to see what he meant. Lots of fiddley little rules I’m going to have to get to know very well. But I was looking through the Table of Contents and I see “sexism, sexual orientation, abortion” all together and I just HAD to see what it said. And you know what? It’s pretty good. I’m impressed and pleased with the journalistic standards in these regards. Seeing what the measure is for the way that these topics are addressed and discussed in the public forum is interesting to see from the other side.
Bits I liked best in these three topics (actually, just sexism/sexual orientation, abortion boils down to ‘use pro/against abortion rights unless groups in question use pro-life/pro-choice, be careful out there.’)
Sexism: “Referring to a woman gratuitously as attractive, leggy or sexy is as innapropriate as describing a man as hot, well-muscled or having great buns.” -I like this mainly because someone managed to get the phrase ‘having great buns’ into my textbook about stylistic writing guidelines.
“Never assume that a family of four consists of a man, a woman and their two children. Don’t write as if every married couple consists of a man and a woman.”
Sexual Orientation: “Gay and lesbian are the preferred terms to describe people attracted by the same sex; homosexual is considered offensive by some. Avoid except in clinical contexts and quotations. Lesbian woman is redundant. Don’t use gay as a noun. Althought many gay people use the expression queer, avoid except in quotations as some readers may construe it as offensive.” Okay, I’m going to have to raise my hand and point out bisexual/pansexual people vis a vis the first bit, but I really enjoy the ‘lesbian woman is redundant’ line. Also, I should ask if you can use the word queer in a column, where you speak as yourself, and you’re someone who self-identifies as queer. Hmm, does a column technically count as one huge giant quote?
“Use sexual orientation, not sexual preference; sexuality is not an option. Don’t refer to the gay lifestyle or suggest that the majority of gay men and lesbians routinely live unorthodox lives; most don’t.” I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW, TEXTBOOK, THAT EVERY NIGHT WHILE THE STRAIGHT PEOPLE SLEEP, WE BATTLE THE DREAD GOD DSSKA’FDSJHRE AND DEFEND THE UNIVERSE FROM IT’S INEVITABLE DESTRUCTION. Not unorthodox lives my butt. (The book said no swearing. ;-; Except in quotes. Wait! “My ass” says the girl who likes to think she’s funny.)
It also says to flag the story with a ‘caution’ note where a slur is used. Perhaps this is indicative of trigger warnings becoming more mainstream!
Bit I don’t really like:
“While there is still some dispute about the definitions of the terms, transgender is usually regarded as a general term under which more specific descriptions, such as cross dresser, transvestite, drag queen, shemale and transsexual, fall. Transsexual has a clinical definition as someone who identifies as a member or the sex opposite to that assigned at birth. Use the term the person in question uses (explain if necessary) and a pronoun consistent with how they live.” Okay, I dislike this being under ‘sexual orientation.’ I get why, because the term LGBT+ has lumped everyone in one big pile, but it’s really not the same thing. Gender identity=/=sexual orientation. Also, I wish they’d said not to use the word shemale unless the person in question uses it, because to my knowledge that is definitely not a good word. I’m probably going to at least point out that gender identity isn’t the same thing as sexual orientation in class, and that they should maybe rename the section ‘sexual and gender identities.
In total, about these sections, I was pretty impressed. It was progressive, fairly decent standards, and most of it worked for me.
If anyone has any issues with the bits I’ve quoted, let me know! Especially with the bit about gender identity. I’m cisgender, and I know I might have missed something offensive.
Friday, August 5, 2011
The End of the Womanthology Kickstarter
With 54 hours left in the Womanthology Kickstarter, the total amount raised is $88,150. This is an amazing success for this group, which started off hoping to raise just $25,000 by the end of the month. While the hope is that with one last big push, the goal of $100,000 can be reached, what has been raised is absolutely phenomenal.
Renae De Liz, the woman who is spearheading this project, has recently revealed more of what she plans to do with the extra money here.
If you have the money to spare, think about donating it to the cause, you'll be helping a lot of people realize their ambitions. :)
Renae De Liz, the woman who is spearheading this project, has recently revealed more of what she plans to do with the extra money here.
If you have the money to spare, think about donating it to the cause, you'll be helping a lot of people realize their ambitions. :)
Thursday, August 4, 2011
First Canada Sings Episode
Just watched the new show, Canada Sings. And during the second song I cried.
I’m not sure what her name was, but the plus-size girl from 1-800-GOT-JUNK, just…when she hurt herself during the practice…you could see the shame and fear on her face, and hear it in her words. “I don’t want to be the fat girl who hurt herself. I don’t want to be the weak link.” I could see all the self-hatred and embarrassment I’ve ever felt in my weakest of moments, and knew exactly how she felt. That moment when you just know that people are judging you, that maybe you’re not good at something, and everyone is going to attribute to your weight and nothing else. Except the worst I’ve ever felt that is during dancing classes (…well, lessons that they made us take in drama class), ‘trust exercises’ (hah. I didn’t trust my partner, and with good reason. The one time I fell, he didn’t even *try* to catch me-he took a step back. If I hadn’t been half-expecting that, I would have fallen on my ass.), and things like that. Performances I wasn’t ready for, things I wasn’t confident about my skill.
She went on NATIONAL TELEVISION. And she knew she was going to do that, in front of a huge audience and television cameras. And she had that sick sense of dread I and others like us know way too well. You could see it on her face, and if you know it, you felt it along with her.
But during the dance, she did wonderful. <3 There was this beautiful moment where she was backlit by the light and dancing, and it was tear-jerking. And then when they one, and she held the statue…Oh.
So happy I watched it.
I’m not sure what her name was, but the plus-size girl from 1-800-GOT-JUNK, just…when she hurt herself during the practice…you could see the shame and fear on her face, and hear it in her words. “I don’t want to be the fat girl who hurt herself. I don’t want to be the weak link.” I could see all the self-hatred and embarrassment I’ve ever felt in my weakest of moments, and knew exactly how she felt. That moment when you just know that people are judging you, that maybe you’re not good at something, and everyone is going to attribute to your weight and nothing else. Except the worst I’ve ever felt that is during dancing classes (…well, lessons that they made us take in drama class), ‘trust exercises’ (hah. I didn’t trust my partner, and with good reason. The one time I fell, he didn’t even *try* to catch me-he took a step back. If I hadn’t been half-expecting that, I would have fallen on my ass.), and things like that. Performances I wasn’t ready for, things I wasn’t confident about my skill.
She went on NATIONAL TELEVISION. And she knew she was going to do that, in front of a huge audience and television cameras. And she had that sick sense of dread I and others like us know way too well. You could see it on her face, and if you know it, you felt it along with her.
But during the dance, she did wonderful. <3 There was this beautiful moment where she was backlit by the light and dancing, and it was tear-jerking. And then when they one, and she held the statue…Oh.
So happy I watched it.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Womanthology Kickstarter
The Womanthology Kickstarter has just launched, around eight o'clock. And we've already raised about $8000.00. While that's still a ways off from the goal of $25000.00, it's incredibly promising, and a great start.
The rewards are fantastic, the cause good, and the product will be fantastic.
Now, I'm off to work on my script for it, because with an artist to work with (Vanessa Satone) and a promising fundraiser, I really have to make sure I do a great job. :3
EDIT: Within 37 hours of starting the Kickstarter, the goal has been met!
The rewards are fantastic, the cause good, and the product will be fantastic.
Now, I'm off to work on my script for it, because with an artist to work with (Vanessa Satone) and a promising fundraiser, I really have to make sure I do a great job. :3
EDIT: Within 37 hours of starting the Kickstarter, the goal has been met!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Pride Toronto 2011
I got home yesterday from spending the weekend at my friends’, celebrating Pride with her. We marched in the Dyke march (and it was SO MUCH FUN) right behind this band, and we danced the whole time (well, my friend Kalie and me danced, Jen just walked) and just had fun. We got sprayed by the lesbians with waterguns that were watching! And then we looked at all the booths, and I saw a shirt I liked but had no money, and it was FORTY BUCKS, so I didn’t want it anymore. Kalie bought a dress, and then we saw a two-for-twenty dollars glasses stall. Kalie and Jen saw a pair each they liked, and got, and I was lingering over a pretty red pair. Kalie found another one she liked, and I offered to pay her back ten bucks if she bought the one she liked and the one I like. So now I have my new red sunglasses~ And we saw a butch clothing stall, and I really like their stuff (in fact, so much I’ll link you to their website: butchclothing.com) and one lady there gave me their card and mentioned that they had clothing in all sizes. (I went back Sunday, when I had money, and she remembered me. c: Got me a hat that says BUTCH CLOTHING CO, with butch in the biggest letters.)
Then we headed back to Kalie and Jen’s apartment, which was really nice imo. Nice thick walls so they could play their music loud, gorgeous view, open-feeling space. We had a late dinner, Jen went to bed and me and Kalie “watched a movie.” By which I mean, we talked about girls. Until about two. Oh, and they had the CUTEST CAT, named Odette, a little blond brat who kept biting me, and cuddling me and djsakljdfljkfds so CUTE. Worth the scratches and allergies to play with her.
Then we went to watch the Pride parade the next day, which was amazing. I was just…a little overwhelmed to be honest, and my feet hurt a bit, and I was honestly way more interested in people-watching the crowd then I was in the parade. I mean…the parade’s awesome, but I just…like looking at everyone there, and walking by, seeing their clothing, seeing them, and knowing that most of the people there were queer in some way, and everyone there was supportive. It was..an amazing feeling, and I don’t really know how to support it. I felt it during the Dyke March too, but that was more…electric, it made me want to shout with everyone, kept me moving and smiling. This just made me…really, really happy in a tranquil way.
…Okay, and honesty makes me admit this, I also looked at bums. Well. I was sitting on a step, and lots of pretty ladies wore short shorts. (Lots and lots and lots of pretty ladies with very nice bums.)
We looked at the shops again, I got my hat, and I bought a shirt I’d seen two people wearing and had to have. The first time I saw it, I just told Kalie I needed it. The second time, I stopped the guy and asked where he bought it, and we went down to Out On The Street(they had so much AWESOME STUFF, and it’s all super LGBTQ+ positive), and bought a shirt that says “Proud to be Everything the Right Wing Hates.” <3
Also, there was one protester, there both days. We only stopped and watched him at the Dyke March. He got hit with a soda can and a water bottle, shouted at, almost assaulted by one very angry woman, whose wife kept trying to hold her back, (We spoke to the wife, lovely lady) and shot by three water guns from three different directions at once. I shouted a few criticisms of his logic, but I don’t think he listened.
OH OH AND THERE WERE DERBY GIRLS OMG Kalie kept pointing them out to me after I mentioned how awesome/hot derby girls are. AND Kalie and me are going to go learn how to shoot guns this winter from her cousin. Who’s in the military!
SO BASICALLY. Pretty awesome weekend.
Then we headed back to Kalie and Jen’s apartment, which was really nice imo. Nice thick walls so they could play their music loud, gorgeous view, open-feeling space. We had a late dinner, Jen went to bed and me and Kalie “watched a movie.” By which I mean, we talked about girls. Until about two. Oh, and they had the CUTEST CAT, named Odette, a little blond brat who kept biting me, and cuddling me and djsakljdfljkfds so CUTE. Worth the scratches and allergies to play with her.
Then we went to watch the Pride parade the next day, which was amazing. I was just…a little overwhelmed to be honest, and my feet hurt a bit, and I was honestly way more interested in people-watching the crowd then I was in the parade. I mean…the parade’s awesome, but I just…like looking at everyone there, and walking by, seeing their clothing, seeing them, and knowing that most of the people there were queer in some way, and everyone there was supportive. It was..an amazing feeling, and I don’t really know how to support it. I felt it during the Dyke March too, but that was more…electric, it made me want to shout with everyone, kept me moving and smiling. This just made me…really, really happy in a tranquil way.
…Okay, and honesty makes me admit this, I also looked at bums. Well. I was sitting on a step, and lots of pretty ladies wore short shorts. (Lots and lots and lots of pretty ladies with very nice bums.)
We looked at the shops again, I got my hat, and I bought a shirt I’d seen two people wearing and had to have. The first time I saw it, I just told Kalie I needed it. The second time, I stopped the guy and asked where he bought it, and we went down to Out On The Street(they had so much AWESOME STUFF, and it’s all super LGBTQ+ positive), and bought a shirt that says “Proud to be Everything the Right Wing Hates.” <3
Also, there was one protester, there both days. We only stopped and watched him at the Dyke March. He got hit with a soda can and a water bottle, shouted at, almost assaulted by one very angry woman, whose wife kept trying to hold her back, (We spoke to the wife, lovely lady) and shot by three water guns from three different directions at once. I shouted a few criticisms of his logic, but I don’t think he listened.
OH OH AND THERE WERE DERBY GIRLS OMG Kalie kept pointing them out to me after I mentioned how awesome/hot derby girls are. AND Kalie and me are going to go learn how to shoot guns this winter from her cousin. Who’s in the military!
SO BASICALLY. Pretty awesome weekend.
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